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1952 Kentucky

5–⁠4–⁠2 (1–⁠3–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Bear Bryant, finished No. 20 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Kentucky in 1952, game by game: lost vs. Villanova 6–25; tied vs. Ole Miss 13–13; won at Texas A&M 10–7; lost vs. LSU 7–34; lost at Mississippi State 14–27; won at Cincinnati 14–6; won at Miami 29–0; won vs. Tulane 27–6; won vs. Clemson 27–14; tied at No. 7 Tennessee 14–14; lost at Florida 0–27+29−27Lost 6–25 vs. Villanova-19VillanovaTied 13–13 vs. Ole Miss0Ole MissWon 10–7 at Texas A&M+3Texas A&MLost 7–34 vs. LSU-27LSULost 14–27 at Mississippi State-13Mississippi Sta…Won 14–6 at Cincinnati+8CincinnatiWon 29–0 at Miami+29MiamiWon 27–6 vs. Tulane+21TulaneWon 27–14 vs. Clemson+13ClemsonTied 14–14 at No. 7 Tennessee0No. 7 TennesseeLost 0–27 at Florida-27Florida
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 20vsVillanovaL 6–⁠2572%
Sep 27vsOle MissT 13–⁠1362%
Oct 4atTexas A&MW 10–⁠745%
Oct 11vsLSUL 7–⁠3465%
Oct 18atMississippi StateL 14–⁠2757%
Oct 25atCincinnatiW 14–⁠637%
Oct 31atMiamiW 29–⁠040%
Nov 8vsTulaneW 27–⁠668%
Nov 15vsClemsonW 27–⁠1473%
Nov 22at7TennesseeT 14–⁠1430%
Dec 6atFloridaL 0–⁠2748%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Florida 27–⁠0; No. 20 in the final AP poll; 9th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 11th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 10: 19
  2. Final: 20

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1952.

Record
5–⁠4–⁠2
Conference
1–⁠3–⁠2 9th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 20 peak No. 19
Points
161–⁠173
Coach
Bear Bryant
Elo
1606 −34 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
8.3 No. 36 of 113 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

All-SEC

1 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

  • Tommy AdkinsDBAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1952 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1952 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Georgia Tech6–⁠012–⁠02
Tennessee5–⁠0–⁠18–⁠2–⁠18
Ole Miss4–⁠0–⁠28–⁠1–⁠27
Alabama4–⁠210–⁠29
Georgia4–⁠37–⁠4
Florida3–⁠38–⁠315
Mississippi State3–⁠45–⁠4
Tulane3–⁠55–⁠5
Kentucky1–⁠3–⁠25–⁠4–⁠220
LSU2–⁠53–⁠7
Vanderbilt1–⁠4–⁠13–⁠5–⁠2
Auburn0–⁠72–⁠8

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.